LG v40

LG only recently updated the Verizon and AT&T variants of its V40 ThinQ to Android 9. Now, customers using the unlocked version of the phone are given the same favor, as the company has released the Pie update on these devices, too.

It wasn't that many years ago that LG was releasing the first phone with Nougat, but times have changed. Now, LG is unusually slow to update its phone, even with that fancy new upgrade center! Well, at least owners of the v40 ThinQ on Verizon can enjoy an update today, late though it may be.

LG's update performance as of late has been less than stellar. Despite the formation of a "Software Upgrade Center" several years back, the company is still slow to get new versions of Android out the door. The V40 is still waiting on that Pie update, but it shouldn't be long now. LG has released the Pie-based kernel source for the V40 and LG G8.

The LG V40 is almost certainly the best smartphone the company has ever released. It has the best cameras, the best display, the best performance, and the most refined design of any LG phone I've ever used. And in 2018, that just isn't enough to more than an also-ran in the high-end smartphone space. At $950 unlocked, the V40 seeks to play in the smartphone big leagues with the Galaxy Note9 and iPhone XS. The sad truth is that for all this phone does right, it does just enough wrong (or simply, not as well) to knock itself out of contention.

LG has just taken the wraps off the V40 ThinQ, its follow-up to the almost continual V30/V30S ThinQ/V35 ThinQ refreshes. The latest iteration in the V series brings real change in design, though, with a new notched and significantly improved OLED display, triple rear camera configuration, and a $900-1000 price tag to go with it.

The LG V40 is officially official, and you can get all the specifications you can handle in the handy table below. But we already knew most of that going in, and of what we didn't know, most of that was predictable: the latest and greatest Qualcomm processor, a big, vibrant OLED display, and a whole mess of cameras. Stare at the list of features and value-adds all you want, but it's not going to answer a critical question: has LG built a big phone worthy of taking on Samsung's $1000 behemoth?

LG’s latest device is still two days away from its official unveiling, yet it feels like we already know all about it. Leaks started way back in June and since then, we’ve had renders and even an official LG press release and teaser video. The most intriguing aspect of the V40 ThinQ is its camera setup – two lenses on the front and three on the back.

LG stuck with the V30 longer than we expected, re-releasing the phone twice more after the original version shipped in late 2017. Now, it seems poised to move on with the V40 ThinQ, a device with more cameras than you'll know what to do with. A leaked render of the phone shows off three sensors on the back, and a pair up front housed in a notch.

Every week, I examine somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred app updates while looking for changes. The most interesting things turn into APK Teardowns or Download posts. Many of the remaining updates are unremarkable, amounting to a few bug fixes, routine updates to libraries, or even just pixel-level adjustments to layouts and images. However, there are usually a few updates that land somewhere in between. I don't want to spam readers with dozens of short posts, but I hate to ignore things that people might want to know about, so I'm going to wrap up the leftovers for a little weekend reading and call it Update Notes.

Speaking to a source familiar with the company's plans, we've learned that LG is working on a successor to its V30 handset, tentatively known as the V40 - and it will feature five cameras. It's not clear exactly what all of them will do, but at least one of the two on the front (and possibly both) will allow you to unlock the phone with your face. Based on the setup process described to us, it seems this could be a stereo configuration allowing a 3D map of the face to be recorded - but we're not certain.

The three cameras on the rear - a configuration we've only seen yet on Huawei's P20 Pro - include a standard wide lens, LG's signature ultrawide lens, and a third sensor for an as-yet undetermined purpose.